The candidates

Patrick Gomez, a two-time candidate for sheriff and a retired sergeant. He sued the department for workplace retaliation after unsuccessfully challenging Lee Baca in 2002. The suit was settled out of court.

James Hellmold, the assistant sheriff of the department's patrol and detective division who was personally tapped by Baca as a potential successor.

Jim McDonnell, the Long Beach chief of police and former assistant chief for the Los Angeles Police Department who served on the county's Citizens' Commission on Jail Violence and is the lone candidate without direct ties to the department.

Bob Olmsted, a retired Sheriff's Department commander who said he blew the lid off of allegations of deputy abuse inside the jails by reporting to the FBI.

Todd Rogers, the assistant sheriff of the department's administrative and professional standards division and Lakewood City Councilman currently serving as mayor.

Paul Tanaka, the department's former second-in-command and mayor of Gardena who recently acknowledged in a federal courtroom that he is the subject of an ongoing criminal corruption investigation. Tanaka, who retired as undersheriff in August, has not been charged with any crimes.

Lou Vince, a former Sheriff's Department reserve deputy and current detective for the Los Angeles Police Department.

Though with few polls reporting, Long Beach police Chief Jim McDonnell took a large lead in the field of seven candidates for Los Angeles County sheriff, all of whom pledged to reform the troubled agency, during early returns in Tuesday’s primary elections.

McDonnell and Paul Tanaka, the department’s former second-in-command and the subject of a federal obstruction of justice investigation, were the race’s two biggest fundraisers and had the top two spots in early returns.

Under the state’s primary rules, if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two head to November’s general election. Either way, the winner will be sworn in as sheriff Dec. 1 and oversee the country’s largest sheriff’s department and jail system.

“The big issue is restoring public trust in the organization,” said McDonnell at a campaign party in a ballroom at the JW Marriott in L.A. Live. “It’s a great organization with the vast majority of employees doing a great job. The action of a few have tarnished the badge”

Former Sheriff Lee Baca stepped down in January under a cloud of controversy, and the department has been led in the interim by Orange County Undersheriff John Scott.

All seven candidates vowed sweeping reforms to the troubled law enforcement agency and the jail system it oversees. The department has come under fire for a range of scandals, including deputy violence against inmates, faulty hiring practices, a ganglike culture among deputies and cronyism that reached from the rank and file to the department’s highest levels.

Six current and former deputies are facing trial in a federal courtroom on allegations of conspiracy to block a federal investigation into deputy abuse inside the county’s jail. During the trial of a deputy that ended in a mistrial last month, Tanaka acknowledged on the stand that he was the subject of a current federal obstruction of justice investigation.

The courtroom revelation sparked calls among several of his rivals, including McDonnell, for Tanaka to withdraw.

But Tanaka vowed to press on, and on Tuesday night awaited election results alongside 125 supporters at Cherrystones, a small Hawaiian eatery in Gardena, where he serves as mayor. Members of the media were not allowed inside the campaign party, a decision Tanaka said was due to the restaurant’s limited capacity and unrelated to the investigation and allegations leveled against him.

“The investigation hasn’t changed anything,” said Tanaka, standing outside the restaurant with his wife, Valerie, 15 minutes before the polls closed. “I know what I did. I’m confident that my actions were lawful, and if I thought any different, I wouldn’t be standing here.”

Tanaka said his leadership style was “completely different” from that of Baca, who retired in January after criminal charges were filed against 18 Sheriff’s Department employees. He also called Baca a “great man.”

McDonnell, a Long Beach resident and the city’s police chief since March 2010, worked for 29 years in the Los Angeles Police Department, rising to second-in-command under Bill Bratton, the current New York City police commissioner.

Los Angeles County sheriff candidate Todd Rogers, second from right, chats with his supporters Tuesday. KYUSUNG GONG, KYUSUNG GONG, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell addresses attendees of his campaign party alongside his wife, Kathy, and daughter, Kelly, at the JW Marriott at L.A. Live on Tuesday. BLAINE OHIGASHI, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Los Angeles County sheriff candidate Todd Rogers, left, chats with his supporters during his election night party. KYUSUNG GONG, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell addresses attendees of his campaign party alongside his wife, Kathy, and daughter, Megan, at the JW Marriott at L.A. Live on Tuesday. BLAINE OHIGASHI, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Los Angeles County sheriff candidate Todd Rogers watches election coverage on television. KYUSUNG GONG, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Long Beach police Chief Jim McDonnell addresses attendees of his campaign party alongside his wife ,Kathy, and daughters Megan and Kelly at the JW Marriott at L.A. Live on Tuesday. BLAINE OHIGASHI, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Los Angeles County sheriff candidate Todd Rogers, left, and his supporters watch election coverage on television. KYUSUNG GONG, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Long Beach police Chief Jim McDonnell, entering his campaign party at the JW Marriott at L.A. Live, has the early lead in the race for Los Angeles County sheriff. If no candidate reaches 50 percent, a November runoff will be held. BLAINE OHIGASHI, BLAINE OHIGASHI, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Supporters of Los Angeles County sheriff candidate Todd Rogers watches election coverage on television during Rogers' election night party at his house. KYUSUNG GONG, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Long Beach police Chief Jim McDonnell talks to the media before entering a ballroom for his campaign party at the JW Marriott at L.A. Live on Tuesday. BLAINE OHIGASHI, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Long Beach police Chief Jim McDonnell talks to the media before entering a ballroom for his campaign party at the JW Marriott at L.A. Live on Tuesday. BLAINE OHIGASHI, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Long Beach police Chief Jim McDonnell heads into his campaign party with his wife, Kathy, and daughters Kelly, left, and Megan, right, at the JW Marriott at L.A. Live on Tuesday. BLAINE OHIGASHI, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Long Beach police Chief Jim McDonnell enters the ballroom alongside his wife, Kathy, for his campaign party at the JW Marriott at L.A. Live on Tuesday. BLAINE OHIGASHI, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Long Beach police Chief Jim McDonnell addresses attendees of his campaign party alongside his wife, Kathy, and daughter, Megan, at the JW Marriott at L.A. Live on Tuesday. BLAINE OHIGASHI, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Long Beach police Chief Jim McDonnell's addresses attendees of his campaign party alongside his wife, Kathy, and daughter, Megan, at the JW Marriott at L.A. Live on Tuesday. BLAINE OHIGASHI, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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